Bucket device for rocker shovel

ABSTRACT

A bucket device for a rocker shovel in which bucket is operated by a single unit of hydraulic cylinder and reversed by its own weight for discharge of the contents.

United States Patent 1191 Nagoshi [4 1 Nov. 18, 1975 1 BUCKET DEVICE FOR ROCKER SHOVEL [75] Inventor: Shuichi Nagoshi, Kanagawa, Japan [73] Assignee: Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Oct. 3, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 403,265

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 5, 1972 Japan 47-100436 [52] US. Cl 214/765; 214/140 [51] Int. Cl. EOZF 3/34 [58] Field of Search 214/140, 765

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,799,411 7/1957 Harrowell et al. 214/765 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,179,864 10/1964 Germany 214/140 1,019,250 11/1957 Germany 214/765 585,707 11/1958 Italy 214/765 Primary ExaminerRobert J. Spar Assistant ExaminerRoss Weaver Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Howson and Howson [57] ABSTRACT A bucket device for a rocker shovel in which bucket is operated by a single unit of hydraulic cylinder and reversed by its own weight for discharge of the contents.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Nov. 18, 1975 3,920,139

BUCKET DEVICE FOR ROCKER SI-IOVEI.v The present invention relates to a bucket device for a rocker shovel and more particularly to an apparatus for backward swinging of the bucket of the loader.

In the conventional rocker shovel in which the bucket is operated by hydraulic cylinders, two groups of cylinders. one for rotating the bucket, with respect to its support arms, the other for rotating the bucket support arms, are required, and therefore the loader is expensive. In addition, the operation of said two groups of cylinders is complex.

The present invention intends to eliminate the abovementioned shortcomings of the conventional rocker shovel.

In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus is characterized in that the bucket is operated by a single unit of cylinder means and linkage means; the bucket is moved to and upper position and thereafter the bucket is reversed automatically by the weight of .the bucket and'its contents to discharge the contents.

Other objects of the present invention, operation and construction are hereinafter more fully set forth and described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

- FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the bucket device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation before reversing the bucket;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation when reversing the bucket; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the bucket shown returning to the position shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, bucket 11 is pivoted to a link 13 by means of pin 12, the link 13 being jointed with the front end rising portion F of body frame F by means ofa pin 14. Links 20 and 21 are connected by a pin 27 and the I respective end of both links are pivoted to the rising which is rotatably mounted, by means of pin 29, on the, body frame F. Bucket 11 is rotatably joined at the upper end portion thereof, with link by means of pin 17 and the end of the link 15 is rotatably joined, by means of pin 18, with one end of link 16. The link 16 is ,rotatably joined, by means of pin 19, with the upper end of the rising portion F of body frame F. At the upper end portion of the rising portion F of body frame F, there'is provided a triangular stopper 23 for regulating the rotation of link 16, so that the clockwise rotation of link 16 is stopped by engagement of the rear end portion thereof with the rear side of stopper 23 and the counter-clockwise rotation is stopped by engagement of the front end portion with the front slope of stopper 23. Stopper 25 for limiting the reversing rotation of bucket 11 is provided at the top end portion of the link 13. Numeral 24 indicates a conveyor hopper.

Operation of the bucket device according to the present invention will be explained hereinafter. In the position in FIG. 2, when the cylinder 22 is operated to project piston rod 22a, the link 13 is, through the links and 21, rotated in the clockwise direction about the pin 14 to lift the bucket 11. Links 15 and 16 serving as tension means to limit counterclockwise rotation of the bucket are also rotated in the clockwise direction about the pin 19 without being folded. When bucket 11 is lifted to the position shown in FIG. 3, the rear end portion of link 16 abuts against the stopper 23. When the link,l3 is rotated further to lift the bucket 11, links 15 and 16 are rotated about the pin 18 with respect to each other as shown in FlG. 4, thereby rotating the bucket with respect to link 13. When the line I connecting the center of gravity P of the bucket 11 and contents with the center of the pin 12 becomes vertical, as shown in the broken line position of FIG. 4, the links 15 and 16 cease their tension support of the bucket. When link 13 continues further rotating, links 15 and 16 are rotated still more, and the center of gravity P is accordingly moved backward. In consequence thereof, the bucket 11 is reversed about thepin 12 by the weight of the bucket 11 and its contents, whereby the contents of the bucket 11 is discharged into the conveyor hopper 24. At this time, the bucket 11 is stopped by the stopper 25 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4.

When the cylinder 22 is operated to retract the piston rod 22a, the link 13 is counter-clockwise rotated about the pin 14, through the links 22 and 21 as shown in FIG. 5, whereby the bucket 11 is counter-clockwise rotated from the broken line position to that shown by the solid line, until the front end portion of the link 16 abuts against the front face of the stopper 23. As a result of contacting the stopper 23 of the link 16, the links 15 and 16 no longer continue their folded relationship shown in FIG. 5. As the link 13 is further rotated in the counter-clockwise direction, bucket 11 automatically rotates in the counter-clockwise direction about the pin 12 by own weight, whereby links 15 and 16 are stretched so as to be aligned with each other, returning to the position of bucket 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

From the relative position of the bucket 11 and link 13 shown in FIG. 3 as contrasted with that of FIG. 2, it can be seen that the bucket rotates counter-clockwise with respect to the link 13 (away from stopper 25) as the link 13 is lifted. This desirable feature, which prevents the premature dumping of the bucket, results from the longer effective length of the tension means (links 15 and 16) than the link 13 and the attachment of the links 15 and 16 to the bucket 11 and frame portion F above thepoints of attachment of the link 13.

It will be understood that chains, wires and the like may be substituted as tension means in place of links 15 and 16. In this case, stopper 23 is useless. Further links 20 and 21 are comissible by joining the piston rod 22a of cylinder 22 with the link 13 directly, In this case, it is necessary to change the configuration of the front portion of body frame F.

To simplify the above description, only a single set of links 20, 21, 13, 15 and 16 have been described. From FIG. 1, however. it will be apparent that a second set of identical links are provided in parallel relation thereto along with a second cylinder 22.

From the foregoing it will be understood that in accordance with the present invention the bucket is moved up to the predetermined position by means of a cylinder, and the bucket is reversed by the weight of the bucket and thus power for reversing the bucket can be saved. 4

Further. since the bucket is automatically reversed so as to discharge the contents of the bucket, the cylinder for reversing the bucket used in conventional loader is not required, thereby manual operation for reversing the bucket is not needed and the bucket operation is remarkably simplified.

What is claimed is:

l. A bucket device for a rocker shovel comprising a body frame, a link member pivotally connected at one end thereof to said body frame for rotation about a horizontal axis, a bucket pivotally supported at the back bottom portion thereof by the other end of said link member. a first stopper on said link member for restricting the backward pivotal dumping movement of said bucket with respect to said link member, a hydrau lic cylinder pivotally attached to said body frame and said link member for selectively rotating said link member, a first link pivotally connected at one end thereof to said bucket at a point above the connection of said bucket to said link member, a second link pivotally connected at one end thereof to the free end of said first link and at the other end thereof to said body 4 frame at a point spaced above the point of connection of said link member to said body frame. and a second stopper on said body frame for limiting the rotation of said second link, whereby the upward rotation of said link member by said hydraulic cylinder produces a rotation of said bucket with respect to said link member away from said frist stopper, the engagement of said second link with said second stopper causing said first and second links to rotate in opposite directions thereby initiating a dumping movement of said bucket which is continued by the weight of the bucket and contents when the center of gravity thereof crosses the vertical plane containing the bucket pivot connection 

1. A bucket device for a rocker shovel comprising a body frame, a link member pivotally connected at one end thereof to said body frame for rotation about a horizontal axis, a bucket pivotally supportEd at the back bottom portion thereof by the other end of said link member, a first stopper on said link member for restricting the backward pivotal dumping movement of said bucket with respect to said link member, a hydraulic cylinder pivotally attached to said body frame and said link member for selectively rotating said link member, a first link pivotally connected at one end thereof to said bucket at a point above the connection of said bucket to said link member, a second link pivotally connected at one end thereof to the free end of said first link and at the other end thereof to said body frame at a point spaced above the point of connection of said link member to said body frame, and a second stopper on said body frame for limiting the rotation of said second link, whereby the upward rotation of said link member by said hydraulic cylinder produces a rotation of said bucket with respect to said link member away from said frist stopper, the engagement of said second link with said second stopper causing said first and second links to rotate in opposite directions thereby initiating a dumping movement of said bucket which is continued by the weight of the bucket and contents when the center of gravity thereof crosses the vertical plane containing the bucket pivot connection with said link member. 